Category: Sackville’s Memorial park

Bambi would like to thank Ms. Roula Douglas who re-tweeted this moving picture shown below. It consists of a large candle with all the 200 names of the citizens who were torn from their loved ones in the surrealistic Beirut port explosion of August 4th, 2020.

As a reminder, two of the Beirut victims were toddlers. This is their first Christmas as “angels”, so to speak. Ironically, had they been still alive, they could have been enjoying watching or playing near a Christmas tree like the one in the background of the candle.

May all the victims of the explosion rest in peace and may their families find the courage to keep moving forward in life.

May all those still without homes find warmth in this forthcoming winter season (initially, the estimated stats were 300, 000 families. Yesterday, Bambi heard on France24 news a number as high as 700, 000).

Let’s also remember the 6000+ who have been injured, including many children who lost an eye.

Of course, everyone else has been affected, whether directly or indirectly by hit by this tragedy. Some are geographically closer. Others are miles away and yet their hearts exploded with Beirut on that day.

To remember means to honour loved ones.

To remember is to support all the families and small businesses directly affected by the explosion.

To remember is to demand justice for the victims and their families.

To remember is also to refuse to blindly find excuses for negligence or criminality.

To remember is to wonder: Can the authorities guarantee that such tragedy will not happen again in Beirut or anywhere else in the country?

To remember with both a personalized spiritual symbol (a candle) AND a fun seasonal decoration (a Christmas tree, poinsettia, lights) is a message of hope in the middle of sorrow.

To remember means to re-choose life instead of despair and… to remain connected, through an artistic piece of collective memory, to loved ones who died too early. For what? For whom? Does it make any sense?

Christmas is all about love. Christmas is about the hope of renewal.

Let’s hope the new year will know how to bring brighter days for tiny Lebanon… and for the whole world struggling with the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact, including us here in Canada.

In the Globe and Mail, we can read an opinion article by a columnist, called Ms. Erica Ifill and entitled “Ottawa claims diversity is our strength. So why is it being sued by Black civil servants?”

First, here is the article in question:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-ottawa-claims-diversity-is-our-strength-so-why-is-it-being-sued-by/

The article is full of funny claims, such as the following:

First, notice the language: Black deserves a capitalized B, but not white :).

Plus, what does she mean by black and white? Are all blacks or whites (or Blacks and Whites :)?) interchangeable? Is their hue colour the only identity characteristic that matters here? For instance, how would this author classify one of Bambi’s former peers who happens to be both African (with a black skin) and Lebanese. Where does she fit? As a Québecker? Canadian? Human being? Herself, period…. or from ancestry from both Central Africa and Lebanon? Yes, she has a black skin, but she was (probably still is) wise enough in order not to fall into the trap of reducing the richness of her individuality to just a skin colour!

Second, the author uses the term “racialized”. This terms is heavily charged with a connotation of victimhood, to begin with. So, these federal employees in question suing the government are not Canadians like the rest of us? Are they just holier because they are “victims”… Therefore, they are. Just because of that, they would deserve to go to the top of the pyramid fast and faster than any other hard-working colleague? Bambi does not know the details of this story. This article seems to be telling us that they are suing our federal government now for the sake of or in the name of equity.

Now, equity is usually a good concept or value in life. However, one must be mindful of the equity of what? For example, the equity between people? Or the equity of the outcomes (of a sport competition or of a career milestone or a merit-grant competition)? Or the equity of success of a business in life?

In this particular situation and beyond it in a society, is it the equity of outcomes or of opportunities of public servants? If it is the former (i.e., outcomes), this is unrealistic in life (on paper, it may sound appealing like communism, but this is not feasible… and likely not even desirable from an evolutionary perspective). If it is the latter (i.e., opportunities), Bambi is all for it. Providing basic rights to all, respect for all, opportunities and training to employees to help them further their skills, etc.

Perhaps MOST importantly to our public servants, we need to fix their Phoenix pay system to pay them all on time and with the accurate amount. To be truly fair, we need not to be paying those at the top of the pyramid (our own PM et al.) with a different functional system than the rest of the public servants at lower positions in the hierarchy of services with Phoenix. This being said, Bambi has not followed updates about the latter problem for some time now. She hopes the problem has been finally fixed now.

Third, and related to the point above, what happened to hard work in life? What happened to ambitions? What happened also to personal and family choices? Not everyone wants those jobs at the top as they come with more leadership responsibility. Plus, are these employees suing our government now ALL competent and fit for the positions they are claiming they have been prevented from getting because of the so-called “systemic racism”? Perhaps some are. Perhaps some would be with more equitable opportunities (e.g., training, more professional development skills, and support from their managers, etc.).

So, no Ms. Ifill, not everything in life is to be blamed on what you call “intersectionality” of victimhood. If there is one thing that life has taught Bambi thus far, is that she refuses to see herself as a victim. She takes full responsibility for her choices in life, both professional and personal. If we start playing the victim card for any unfair situation we find ourselves in, we fall in the trap of narcissism in life. We risk becoming the abusers of those we claim we have been abused by. Of course, by no means, Bambi is saying that people should not seek justice for themselves! However, she is just saying the following: no one is immune to such a trap, no person, no group, no society or part of a society.

So, a piece of advice to all of us or anyone of us, human or deer citizens of Canada: Enough of cultic levels of wokeness, whether we are truly illuminated or pretending to be so to either keep one’s job or de-stress (like perhaps your media employer or our institutions, etc.). Why don’t we take a break, at least until the holidays to see more clearly. Perhaps this pause will help us in realizing that we are ruining our country with our own stupidity.

Bambi would like to thank her friend Leila for sharing this thoughtful short video of Ms. El-Yafi on the Beirut explosion in which she shared her thoughts, along with a couple of moving stories.

Bambi recalls having listened to Ms. El Yafi in an interview with European media immediately following the explosion. What an articulate and clever Lebanese political adviser who holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She speaks fluent Arabic, French, and English.

According to Ms. El-Yafi’s own words (+ tears…), “… Justice is the cornerstone of healthy nation-building. We will strategically pursue it, and we will achieve it. Onwards”.

Before sharing this video with you, Bambi cannot help not to wonder about the following (after watching the video, she is even more puzzled…!).

What happened in Beirut on August 4^th, 2020?

Was the port blast (or blasts?) due to criminal negligence only?

Or was it criminal?

Or both?!

Who is behind this tragedy?

Did Israel attack by airplane or was it a coincidence that airplanes may have been flying over Beirut then (mind you, they regularly fly at low altitude and scare people)?

Did Israel know about the ammonium nitrate? Or just about the other stuff, called weapons, that explodes too?

Did they attack the port (first explosion at least?)? Why and why then?

Did a third unknown party attack?

Did anyone attack?

What is the role of the Hezbollah, which is notoriously known to control this wharf of the port?

Or was Beirut’s surrealistic explosion a stupid accident merely due to the incompetence of the ruling mafia-like elite of tiny bankrupt Lebanon?

Who knows? Perhaps this tragedy was not related to neither Israel nor Hezbollah? Or just to the former, but not the latter? But if that is the case, to cite another good friend of Bambi, why are both Israel and Hezbollah silent about each other (no one is blaming the other)? Since when?!

So many questions and yet no answer is possible without an international investigation…This being said, the tragedy of tiny Lebanon is that it just had the ultimate evidence that UN tribunals can be jokes (as per Bambi’s earlier post today on Hariri’s killing). Sadly, the UN seems to be at the mercy of powerful entities (today the latter are perhaps China along with the Islamists of our world).

To conclude this post, sadly, regardless of any justice for the victims of the Beirut explosion, as Bambi’s own mom told her today, “This explosion brought us SO MANY years backward…”.  

Bambi read today that the UN international court sentenced the killer of Lebanon’s Hariri to life in prison. As a reminder, this explosion of February 14, 2005 killed not only the PM, but also MANY Beirutis. Lebanon has contributed half of the funding for this Special Tribunal. How is that fair to the Lebanese taxpayers?

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20201211-international-court-to-sentence-killer-of-lebanon-s-hariri

Of course, there is also the question of whether that scapegoat killer will be handed over by the Hezbollah, but this not the focus of this post.

This post is about the lucidity of Lebanese citizens… and their sarcasm.

Bambi read in Naharnet readers’ comment section the following exchange:

One individual wrote: “Only one guy carried out this entire assassination? Why not sentence the head of snake?”

A woman replied: “Actually, it was a snake with two heads: Assad and Nasrallah”.

In this short exchange, you have the whole truth… If you do not believe Bambi, you can re-read this 2010 CBC article to refresh your memory:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cbc-investigation-who-killed-lebanon-s-rafik-hariri-1.874820

May Mr. Erakat rest in peace. Bambi was sad to hear about his death a month ago.

She respects these two Palestinian diplomats who devoted their career and life to the Palestinian cause.

Both are highly educated and love their nation. They would have loved to see it sovereign… Perhaps it is not too late for Dr. Achraoui? Is there still hope?

It is Bambi’s hope that, as Dr. Achraoui wrote in her letter of resignation (as per her Twitter account), more youth and women would be involved in politics.

How about elections also?

Of course, according to Bambi, it would be nice to see more secularism in the Palestinian public life (i.e., the Islamism of Hamas) and more independence from Iran’s influence.

As for Israel, is it too complicated to stop colonization and make Jerusalem shared for both co-existing nations?

There is nothing more moving to Bambi than listening to this “Jingle Bells” in the language of Jesus. She just heard this song on her internet radio, searched it on the net, and found it for you!

Before sharing it, she would like to clarify why it is moving to her. This language is an old Semitic one. It is related to both Hebrew (Jesus being Jewish) and Arabic. Bambi can guess words here and there, but she finds it odd as it sounds like her mother tongue (Arabic)… and yet it is different. It is intriguing to say the least. Plus, the Aramaic language still exists, despite what ISIS did to get rid of people who speak this language in both Syria and Irak. Finally, Jingles Bells is just a fun melody and Bambi adores Christmas…. She is sad to think that some in her birth city are grieving this Holiday Season. However, despite the sorrow, Christmas season will always be Christmas… Christmas is about love and about welcoming a newborn (is there anything more joyful than that in the world?!)! Some of us, including Bambi, call this newborn God. Another personal reason to be joyful despite pandemics and sorrow.

Well, without further due, here is the song that Bambi would like to dedicate to her friend Jane (Happy Birthday!) and… to all her love ones in Canada who are celebrating the start of Hannukah (festival of light) this night and in the next eight ones.

As Mr. Trudeau kindly wrote on his Twitter account today: “Chag Hanukkah Sameach!” Perhaps those kids singing Jingle Bells in the video can guess what the words mean :).

May the light and sound of love always shine!

Whether Americans voted for Mr. Trump or Mr. Biden, do they find this normal?

What is happening in America (and our world by extension)?

There seems to be a complete take over by big tech companies and by the media (see below).

Very odd. Very serious. Very sad.

It is not only anti-democratic, it is insane at this point.

Is this about presidential elections or is this a war of power?

If Mr. Trump truly won, it is unfair to his party and him and to many of us around the world (Lebanon’s fate is hanging on!).

If Mr. Biden truly won and no cheating happened, why don’t they prove it with audits instead of suppression?

Bambi is saying so and she is not a Trump supporter. She is a democracy supporter!

This story below (see the screenshot) is making Bambi think of her sisters who voted or a female candidate who won the elections in Beirut. This politician went to bed thinking she has won. When she woke up, the results were different. The candidate who won was from Hezbollah.

Are those too powerful big techs using their power to manipulate politics? One may wonder.

Again, Bambi is asking this question and she is not an American voter.

She is just a non-expert deer observing strange human behaviour.

Bambi would like to thank her friend Amale for sharing this information about a white student association at McGill University.

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/a-white-students-union-wants-to-set-up-a-chapter-at-mcgill-university-1.5205469

As per the CTV article above, McGill University now has or could have a so-called “White Student Association”. Can you imagine?

Why are we allowing ourselves to be divided into black and white?

We have seen or heard of association such as the “black public servants” or “black students” or “black entrepreneurs”.

Can you imagine the narrow-mindedness of tribalism? It can go quite far.

Today, the story is about an association of white students at McGill University. Tomorrow it will be about “white this” or “white that”.

When will all this insanity stop?

An association of white, black, yellow, green red, etc… The colour does not matter. It is the sectarianism that Bambi is worried about.

Other associations of the so-called BIPOCs for “black, indigenous, and people of colour” (that funny term that Bambi is supposed to fit in ?).

In Bambi’s time, the associations were meant to celebrate cultures, not to fall into the trap of divisions… and sub-divisions.

It is both sad and worrisome to see stupidity and dangerosity, going hand in hand.

What has changed all of a sudden in 30 years to now to require associations based on stupid skin colours (whether white or black or other)?

Skin colour or hue (we may be darker in the summer for some of us) is just one characteristic of a person’s complex identity in life.

What happened to our unity?

As Canadians? As Québeckers?

As human beings? Bothers and sisters in humanity!

Is this the Canada we want to live in and leave as a legacy for our children and grand-children?

Bambi has escaped stupid divisions of civil war and she has never ever thought she would find a a neo-form of sectarian Apartheid in Canada one day.

Are all white people the same? Can we inter-change them?

Are all black people the same? What does a Palestinian from Gaza who has a black skin has in common with a financially privileged black American  lawyer chosen as a vice-President or with a hard-working Ethiopian worker in some foreign countries?

What about a successful graduate student or entrepreneur of Nigerian origins? Or a Montreal youth from a poor neighbourhood who happens to have a black skin, who is a gang member, and whose dream in life is to succeed as a drug dealer?

Where is common sense for God’s sake… Not that common anymore. Bambi misses it.

If we do not stop to think about what is happening in our society (thanks Dr. Mathieu Bock-Côté for using your brain on our behalf), the end result can be quite ugly. Bambi knows what she is talking about. The Lebanese civil war was sadly famous for killing or kidnapping on checkpoints when people were from the “wrong” group of those in power. The best thing that Lebanon did post-war was to change the IDs of its citizens, erasing from it their religious affiliation. The population knows very well now that all those divisions were artificial.

In Canada nowadays, we seem to be moving into the opposite direction. We seem to be increasingly focusing on one single aspect of our complex identities and we are making it holy.

In the name of equity (or whatever it is called, diversity, inclusion, and equity), national funding agencies of science are now asking research teams to fit criteria of the above be funded… Instead of focusing only on MERIT.

What world are we living in? Where, in the name of anti-racism or equity (good intentions for sure), we focus on the composition of research teams instead of assessing their science only (who cares whom they are?).

For instance, would you like to consume a health app or a vaccine from a competent lab, produced by a competent pharmaceutical company? Or a lab that has an equal number of scientists from this colour or this religion, or this gender?

Bambi prefers safety and effectiveness to ideology in life.

To come back to civil war, how do you think all this started in Beirut? With much dangerous ideologies first and… then with weapons after.

To conclude this post, please make no mistake, no country in the world is immune to civil problems and even unrest, even those that are more stable and advanced like Canada. In other terms, democracy is a constant work in progress. For the latter to prevail, critical sense of citizens is a must!

Why is the CBC giving 20 students all this media attention in their weird section called “Being black in Canada”?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/university-of-ottawa-sit-in-racism-1.5830166

As if there is one type of black person in Canada (one size fits all)! What about the other black students at the university that are trying to improve their future by studying for their exams?

Is Canada and its universities an additional American state hit with both the funding and force of such a woke movement?

What is this nonsense?

Are the students “occupying” (to use the own word of the Equity Commissioner for the University of Ottawa Students’ Union in the recorded interview) their President’s office because Mr. Frémont is a weak administrator or because their PM encouraged them when he ridiculously and hypocritically took the knee in the streets of Ottawa, while protected by RCMP officers as bodyguards?

Canada is diving into nonsense at an increasing speed.

When will this insanity stop?